Machine for gathering cotton.



3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATBNTED JUNE 9, 1908. J F OSHAUGHNESSY.

MACHINE FOR GATHERING COTTON.

APPLICATION FILED 11014, 1907.

. lllll Non 889,958.

wi lmwogo No. 889,958. PATENTED JUNE 9, 1908. J. F. OSHAUGHNBSSY.

MACHINE FOR GATHERING COTTON.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.4. 1907.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

MQ 4 $5. 9 c1 No. 889,958. PATENTED JUNE 9, 1908.

J. F. O'SHAUGHNESSY.

MACHINE FOR GATHERING OOTTON.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 4, 1907.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

UNITED STATES PATENT nnro 1 JAMES F. OSHAUGHNESSY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO NELSON OSHAUGHNESSY, F VIENNA, AUSTRIA-HUN GARY.

' MACHINE FOR GATHERING COTTON.

Speciflcation'of Letters Patent.

Patented June: 9, 1968 Application filed November 4, 1907. Serial No. 100,4645

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES F. OSHAUGH- NESSY, a citizen of the United States, resid ing in the city, county, and State of New York, have made a certain new and useful Invention in Machines for Gathering Cotton,

' of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machines for gathering .cotton;

The object of the invention is to provide a machine which is simple in construction and eificicnt in operation for facilitating the gathering of cotton.

A further object is to rovide a machine of the character referre to wherein provision is made for receiving the cotton as picked by a large number of operators, as the machine is progressed through the field, and

conveying the same into a receptacle forming part of the machine. V 1

Other objects of the invention Wlll appear more fully hereinafter.

The'invention consists substantially in the construction, combination,-locat1on and relative arrangement of parts, all as w ll be 'more fully hereinafter set forth, as shown in the accompanying drawings, and finally pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

and to the various views and reference signs appearing thereon,Fi ure 1 is a view in side elevation of a mac 'ne embodying the principles of my invention. Fig. 2 IS a view in rear elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a view in top plan, parts broken off. Fig. 4-is a broken detail view in section on the line 4, 4, Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a broken detail view in section on the line 5, 5, Fig. 8. Fig. 6 are broken detail views respectively in section on the line 6, 6, Fig. 3, and in top plan. Fig.

i 7 is a broken detail v1ew, parts in section on a the line 7, 7, Fig. 5.

The same part is designated by the same reference sign wherever it occurs through out the several views.

Experiencev has demonstrated that the most reliable method of picking cotton is with the human-hands.

trial upon the operators, espec1ally where such operators provide themselves with bags strapped over their shoulders to receive the cotton as icked. In such case theoperator is require to stoop or bend over to pick the Wei ht u on the operator, and ver a P Y This method, however, is slow and tedious, and imposes greatcotton, and then to straighten u in orde'r'to deposit the picked cotton in the ag. Monoover, the increasing quantity of cotton in the rough the cotton elds ing a receptacle with trailing carriers ar ranged to be pushed or to be drawn along be- I tween adjacent rows of cotton stalks, and having carrier belts toreceive the picked cotton from the hands of the operatorsand to deliver thesame into the receptacle:

It is among the special purposes of the present invention to provide a machine of this character with means, for accommodat ing larger numbers of operators whereby the work of harvesting the ootton crop-is-very greatly facilitated and more quicklyaccomplished than has been possible heretofore! In carrying out my resent inventiongl propose to employ a ve 'cle having abode receptacle and carriers trailing from-the rear end thereof, and delivering into suchbody receptacles. And I also pro ose toemploy carriers extending horizontal y and laterally.

from one or both sides ofthebody recap tacle and transversely of the rdws'ofcotton stalks, and upon which the cotton when picked by the operators may be deposited and delivered thereby into the race tacle. I also propose toprovide such latera 15 6a tending horizontal carriers, when so desired; with trailing carriers arranged to operate-be tween adjacent rows of cotton stalks and upon WhlGll the cotton, when'picked', is thrown by the operatoraand isthereby'de posited upon the laterally extending hori zontal carrier and thence carried and deliv ;ered into the body receptacle.

The vehicle comprises a bodyreceptacle A, mounted upon wheels B, whereby it may be convenient y progressed through the cotkton field and preferably lengthwise of the rows of cotton stalksf The means for pro gressing the machine are unimportant, so far as the present inventionis. concerned. In the articular form shown, however, but to 5 whidh my invention is not to be limited or restricted, I employ a motor vehicle, the motor 0, serving to drive the rear axle from which .the various carriers are operated.

Suitably hinged or pivoted to the upper edge of the rear end ofthe receptacle are trailer frames D, arranged to trail rearwardly therefrom and between adjacentlrows of cotton stalks, and each having a traveling belt E, adapted to be driven in any suitable. .15 manner, as, forinstance, "by means of a sprocket chain F, from the'rear axle; "The operators gather or pick} the cotton from the stalks and throw the same onto thebelts E, by which it is elevated and delivered into the body receptacle.

On one or bo'th'sides'of the body recep tacle and extending horizontally and later-' ally therefrom transverse to the rows of cot-1 ton stalks and above the same is a frame G, on which operates a traveling carrierbelt H,

adapted to be driven in any suitable ner, as for instance, by means of gearing, in-

dicatedat J, from the rear axle. This car rier is designed to receive the picked cotton fromthe hands of the operators, and to deliver the same into the body receptacle. To

this endthe belt H, operates around a drive roller K, at the outer end of the horizontal frame G, and, at the inner "end of said frame is designed to deliver the cotton into the body receptacle in any suitable or convenient I manner, asfor instance, by being led around guide rollers L, and thence vertically along the side of-the body receptacle, and over guide rollers M and N. The roller Nis arranged inside the rollers M, with reference to thetop' edge of'the body receptacle, soas to deflect .the carrierinwardly over the body receptacle, thereby enabling the picked cotton to fall therefrom into, the receptacle as the belt travels around said roller N. In

order to prevent the cotton from falling off 1 the inner end of the frame G, Without inter ference from or with the cleats or ribs 0, 0 arrange said uide rollers L, to engage the carrier belt on y at the edges thereof, as most 1 clearly shown 1n Figs. 4 and 7.

,In the operation of the machine so far described, the vehicle is slowly progressed along 5 or lengthwise of the rows "of cotton'stalks In order.

with the horizontal carriers extending out laterally over and above and transversely with respect to the rows of stalks, being vbraced in any suitable manner, as for instance by the brace rods S, connected at one end to the outer end of the horizontal carrier frames and at the other end to the vehicle body.

Where the cotton stalks are not too high the horizontal carriers may be maintained at a sufficient height for the operators to directly deposit the cotton thereon as it is picked from the open bolls, such'cotton'being conveyed to and delivered into the body receptacle "A, by the carrier belt. It may be desirable to maintain the hor'ig zontal carriers'at such a height as to make it inconvenient to'deposit the picked-cotton thereon direct from the hands of theopera tors, and especially where the cotton stalks are tall and the danger is incurred" of breaking g5 them down or injuring them or the uno ene bolls of cotton thereon. In such case propose to provide trailing carriers, for thehorizontal-carriers, said trailing-carriers extends ing rearwardly' from"; the horizontal'carriergyo if and operating between adjacent rows of cot- I ton stalks. These trailing carriers, in the particular form shown, to which, however,

the invention is not to belimited'orrestricted, consist of frames A, suitably connected at 5 their upper ends to the 'rearedg'e or side of the horizontal carriers G; In practice a convenient arrangement is to support the u per ends of the trailer carriers A", 'u on a s aft B, journaled in bearing carried y the horizontal frame and extending" longitudinally thereof, said shaft 'forming part of the gearing for driving the horizontal carrier belts or conveyers H. From their points of connee-i tion with the rear edge or side of; the horizontal frames, these trailer frames extend rearwardly and downwardly, parallel to the rows of cotton stalks,each trailer frame operating in the space between the adjacent rows. The' trailer frames may be supported at their lower ends in any suitable or conven-' ient manner. 'I- have shownthese frames braced bytie rods 6, but it is obvious that the invention is not limited or restricted in this respect; Traveling belts or conveyers D operate over rollers supported by the-trailer frames at the respective" upper and lower ends thereof, the rollers E, at the up er ends of the trailer frames being mounte up on the shafts B, and driven'thereby. I The shafts B, and the rollers E, are arrangedjnlsuch relation to the horizontal carriers as to enable the cotton placed upon the trailing car- I' 'riers to be delivered thereby upon the hori-' zontal carriers and thence carried and de- *125 posited into the body receptacle A. If de' sired, the trailing carriers D", maybe pro vided with cleats or'othe'r form of retaining devices F, for retaining the cotton deposited upon such carriers by the operators while it 130 is being elevated to the horizontal carriers H. In the operation of this feature of my invention the operators pick the cotton by hand from the opened bolls, as the machine progresses slowly through the field, and deposit the picked cotton upon the trailing carriers by which it is elevated and delivered. onto the horizontal carriers and is delivered thereby in to the body rece tacle. The trailing carriers bein inclined ownwardly and rearwardly enab e the operators to readily pick and. deposit the cotton thereon Without the necessity of unduly raising or straightening up and bending over. Moreover, since the cotton picking season is comparatively short and the need for cotton picking labor during such season, very great, a machine embodying the principles of my invention permits the em loyment of a larger number of operators, 0 all sizes and ages thereby enabling the cotton to be harvested quickly and without imposing the physical fatigue, Wear and tear upon the individuals, which is the greatest difficulty encountered in the o1d1- nary manual cotton picking operation.

Having now set forth the object and nature of my invention and a construction embodying the principles thereof, and having explained such construction, its purpose, function and mode of operation, what I claim as new and useful and of my own in ventionland desire to secure by Letters Pat- 'ent is:

1. In a machine for gathering cotton, a vehicle adapted to be advanced along the cotton rows, and having a body receptacle, in combination with a horizontal frame extending laterall from the side of said body receptacle, trai ing carriers extending rearwar ly from said horizontal frame and operating between adjacent rows of cotton stalks, said trailing carriers adapted to receive the cotton when picked and to deliver the same upon said horizontal frame and means for conveying the cotton from said horizontal frame to and delivering the same into said body receptacle.

2. In a machine for gathering cotton, a vehicle adapted to be advanced along the cotton rows, and having a body receptacle, in combination with a horizontal frame extending laterally from the side of said receptacle, a carrier operating thereon and delivering into the receptacle, frames connected to the rear edge or side of said horizontal frame and trailing rearwardly therefrom, carriers operating on said trailing frames and delivering to said first mentioned carriers, and means for operating said carriers.

3. In a machine for gatherin cotton, a vehicle, adapted to be advance along the cotton rows, and having a body receptacle, in combination with a horizontal frame extending laterally from the side of said receptacle, a carrier mounted on said frame, and operating horizontally lengthwise thereof, guides for deflecting said carrier vertically along the side of said receptacle, and guides for deflecting said carrier inwardly over the top edge of said receptacle, and means for operating said carrier.

4. In a machine for gatherin cotton, a

vehicle adapted to be advancec along the cotton rows, and having a body receptacle, in combination with a horizontal frame extending laterally from the side of said receptacle, a carrier mounted on said frame and operating horizontally lengthwise thereof, guides for deflecting said carriervertically alon the side of said receptacle and guides for c eflecting said carrier inwardly over the top ed e of said receptacle, a shield for the vertica ly extending part of said carrier, and means for operating said carrier.

5. In a machine for gathering cotton, a vehicle adapted to be advanced alongthe cotton rows, and having a body receptacle, and trailing carriers extending rearwardly and downwardly from the rear end of and delivering into said receptacle, in combination with a horizontal carrier extending laterally from the side of said receptacle, and arranged to deliver into said receptacle.

6. In a machine for gathering cotton, a vehicle adapted to be advanced along the cotton rows, and having a body receptacle, and trailing carriers extending rearwardly and downwardly from the rear end of and delivering into said receptacle, in combination with a horizontal carrier extending laterally from the side of and delivering into said rece tacle, trailing carriers extending rearward y and downwardly from and delivering upon said horizontal carrier, and means for operating said several carriers.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of the subscribing witnesses, on this 31st day of October A. D, 1907.

JAMES F. OSHAUGHNESSY.

/Vitnesses':

P. F. WITTENBERG, JosErH KLEIN. 

